L. Green Designing Philosophy

A journey into a client’s mind is an amazing revelation. When you, as a designer, reach the point where designing is no longer about the passion of creating your vision in someone else’s home and realize it is learning to see through their eyes and create for them a space that is contiguous with their life and experiences, you reach ultimate satisfaction. In essence, your experience comes full circle and becomes owned by your client.
When I first started designing I thought it was all about me, but then I realized that I was pushing too hard on my client’s parameters to reach a selfish objective. This experience is not rewarding in the least and isn’t authentic to my client’s vision.

I began this journey of trying to use my talents and learned expertise, applying them practically layer by layer to create a unique project whose sole focus was to reward the home owner who ultimately is the recipient of my work. So in short, starting to focus on the long term effects of my work, both psychologically and functionally, increased the long term relativity of the ‘brand’. Hence, the term “simple sophisticate” was born... the parallel between being simple and the application of sophistication.

What most designers lose sight of is that a client typically spends only 1-5 years planning, designing and building their home, then they live with their decisions for 13-30+ years. Instead of making the most money or worrying about being published, one should be concerned with the functional live-ability of the space and its ultimate goal of being an investment vehicle for their portfolio. When my focus shifted to being a good steward of my client resources, the entire process changed for me. They in turn started realizing that it is possible to both save money and achieve their dreams. The possibility that this brings is endless to both the consumer and designer.

As the designer builds their brand and their buying power, they are able to achieve the symbiotic relationship of having both a large revenue stream and passing along a great discounts to the consumer. Being shortsighted, you realize not only does it impede the design collaboration and the pricing model, but in some instances it actually keeps the project from being completed. Now when money is no object it actually is not a problem, but I have yet to meet a millionaire who doesn’t count a penny!!

I love my job and all of the relationships I build with my clients because most of them turn into genuine friendships, like our next design story with Blayne Beacham. She is the director of creative services at Beacham & Company, Realtors and one of the most talented photographers I have ever met! She is also the principal photographer of "The Beacham Series" magazine and writes her own blog called "This Photographers Life: In Search of a Style". I had the honor of decorating her house not too long ago and it turned out perfect!

If you want to visit her blog, go to

http://www.thisphotographerslife.com/. Stay tuned for the full critique of Blayne Beacham's house including pictures! Here is a sneak peek at one of the rooms.